Railway-car roof



Aug. 21, 1928. 1,681,819

A. E. SMALL RAILWAY CAR ROOF Filed Sept. 10. 1927 HiiOflZgZ/ flri/u/r E.Sm all 2 series of flat planes (apexed).

Patented Aug. 21, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR E. SMALL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO I. H. MURPHY COMPANY,OF

NEW IKENSINGJI.ON PENNSYLVANIA,

A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY CAR noon.

Application filed September 1 0, 1927. Serial No. 218,732.

This invention relates to railway freight car roofs,'and moreparticularly to the all metal type of roof wherein a plurality ofrelatively thick roof sheets span the distance between the opposite sidewalls of the car and are so formed and arranged as to not only act as aroof in protecting the lading from the weather but also to perform thefunctions of the usual carlines, ridge pole and purlins which, in theordinary car, constitute the roof framing.

A railway car in motion weaves and rocks and the rectangular framecomposed of the side plates and end plates becomes distorted into aparallelogram; the cars also twist on their longitudinal axis setting uptorsional strains and the roof sheets tend to slide past each other attheir adjoining edges. Therefore, the seams between the adjoining edgesof adjacent roof sheets must be wellseoured to each other or madeflexible so that they will 1 not tear-and cause a leaky roof.

The object of my device is to provide integral depressions orcorrugations in a metallic plate whenused as a roof for a railway carwhich transmit any stresses impo ed thereon to the opposite side platesof the car, which sideplates, with the end plates, form a rectangularframe for the roof. And a further object is to so form and shape suchembossments or corrugations as to impart strength and rigidity to theplate adjacent the center of thecar and to impart resiliency andflexibilityto the plate adjacent the opposite ends of the corrugationswhich are positioned adjacent the opposite side plates. -Suchcorrugations also restrict the buckling of the lates when acting asgussets to prevent the roof framing (side and end plates) from gettingout of square.

j The roof sheets are made higher adjacent the center line of the car soas to form a watershed and also toform an arch or cambered bea-m'totransmit any load imposed upon them to the opposite side plates of thecar. It is immaterial to my invention whether thi v watershed or arch isgiven to the sheets by forming them on a curve (arcuate) or a e I haveused the term arch herein to define either structure or any similarstructure thereto. Besides the weaving and racking stresses to which acar roof is subjected, it must also sustain the vertical loads of snowslush and rain as well as the weight of men on the running boards.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary plan view of a car with my improved roof appliedthereon.

Figs. 2 and 3 are sections on lines 2-2 and 33, respectively, of Fig. 1.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are enlarged sections on lines ll;. 5- 5 and 66respectively, of Fig. 1.

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are modifications of Fig 4, 5 and 6, respectively.

Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, show the preferred form wherein the plate isprovided with a plurality of parallel depressions, each depressioncomprising a plurality of relatively shallow sinuous minor corrugations2 formed therein which are spaced apart distances substantially equal totheir respective widths and the port-ions 3 of the plate between therespective adjacent minor corrugations are also sinuous so that theseminor corrugations merge together to form a contiguous, sinuousconfiguration, symmetrical in cross section about a line midway betweenthe outermost portions of these minor corrugations so that this line isthe neutral axis of the section. Such a section is very resilient andhas a spring like action under loads, and, furthermore, produces a verystrong section for the amount of metal used. These minor corru gationsmerge into the plane of the plate at by means of terminal portions 5 ofany desired formation. A plurality of such minor corrugations mergetogether adjacent the middle of the plate (or center of the car) to forma plurality of fewer major corrugations 6 preferably relatively deepwith substantially flat apices 7, which corrugations are spaced apartdistances substantially equal to their respective widths and theportions 8 of the plate between these major corrugations are alsosubstantially flat, thus forming a configuration symmetrical in crosssection about a line midway between the outermost portions of these major corrugations so that this line is the neutral axis of the section.The secondary oppositely projecting ribs or corrugations 9 formed by themerging of the minor corrugations are equal in Width to the adjacentminor corrugations and decrease in width as the minor corrugations mergeto gether to form the major corrugations. These secondary oppositelyprojecting ribs 9 also preferably decrease in depth so that anyconcentrated stretch of metal is eliminated where the minor corrugationsmerge together. Such a section 4e) stronger and relatively rigid ascompared to the section (Fig. 6) of the sinuous minor corrugationsbecause more metal is positioned away from the neutral axis and theincreased depth also increases the strength of the beam. By such anarrangement a car root is provicedwhich is relatively rigid adjacent thecenter of the car and relatively resilient adjacent the opposite sideplates of the car.

Figs. 1, 5 and 6 are detail enlargements of portions of the plate takenon lines at, 5 and 6, respectively, of Fig. 1 showing the flat apex i'of the major corrugation split or divided by the secondary rib orcorrugation 9 into two contiguous, sinuous minor corrugations 2. Theportions 8- of the plate between the respective major corrugations arealso substantially flat.

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are detail enlargements of a modified form ofcorrugation similar to Figs. 4, 5 and 6, respectively, wherein the apex10 of the major corrugation is arcuate and the portions 11 of the platebetween the respective major corrugations are also arc uate.

The metallic plate forming the main element of the roof is thus formedwith a plurality of corrugations which are preferably relatively deepand relatively wide adjacent the center of the car and perhaps for adistance on each side thereof so as to form a relatively strongstructure and relatively rigid structure where greater strength isrequired, some of these corrugations having their opposite ends dividedor bifurcated to form a section modulus can be made commensurate withthe bending moments, and, furthermore, the rib .9 can be so proportionedthat thesection modulus of all cross: sections of the cortions, and,furthermore, the. formation of the secondary rib is preferably such thatthe lengths of the center lines of all cross sections of the corrugatedportion of the plate are equal. 1

In my application Serial No. 595,634, filed October 19, 1922, I havedisclosed and claimed broadly the particular formation of the me tallicplate and specifically the use of such a structure as a wall for arailway car.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of theinvention, though it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as itis obvious that various modifications thereof within the scope of theclaims will occur to persons skilled in the art. 7

1 claim:

1. A roof sheet for a railway ca-r, comprising one of a plurality ofmembers to form the roof, consisting of substantially an arch betweenthe opposite side plates of the car, said sheet provided with aplurality of corrugations adjacent said side plates, said corrugationsmerging together adjacent the middle of the sheet to form a pluralityof, fewer corrugations.

2. A roof sheet for a railway car, compris ing one of a plurality ofmembers to form the roof, consisting of substantially an arch betweenthe opposite side plates of the car, said sheet provided with aplurality of corrugations adjacent said side plates, said corrugationsmerging together adjacent the middle of the sheet to form a plurality offewer, deeper corrugations.

3. A roof sheet fora railway car, comprising one of a plurality ofmembers to form the roof, consisting of substantially an arch betweenthe opposite side plates of the car, said sheet provided with aplurality of'corrugations adjacent said side plates, said corrugationsmerging together adjacent the middle of the sheet to form a plurality offewer, wider and deeper corrugations.

i. A roof sheet for a railway car, comprising one of a plurality ofmembers to form the roof, consisting of substantially an arch betweenthe opposite side plates of the car, said sheet provided with aplurality of corrugations spaced apart distances substantially equal totheir widths adjacent said side plates, said corrugations mergingtogether adjacent the middle of the sheet to form a plurality of fewercorrugations also spaced apart distances substantially equal to theirwidths.

5. A roof sheet for a railway car, comprising one of a plurality ofmembers to form the roof, consisting of substantially an arch betweenthe opposite side plates ofthe car, said s.-eet provided with aplurality of corrugations adjacent said side plates, said corrugationsmerging together adjacent the middle of the sheet to form a plurality offewer, deeper corrugations, the length of the center line of the metalof across section of the shallowest corrugations being substantiallyequal to the length of the center line of the metal of a cross sectionof the deepest corrugations.

6. A roof sheet for a railway car, comprising one of a plurality ofmembers to form the roof, consisting of substantially an arch betweenthe opposite side plates of the car, said sheet provided with aplurality of corrugations adjacent said side plates, said corrugationsmerging together adjacent the middle of the sheet to form a plurality offewer corrugations which are of constant cross section equi-distant oneach side of the center line of the car.

7. A roof sheet for a railway car, comprising one of a plurality ofmembers to form the roof, consisting of substantially an arch betweenthe opposite side plates of the car, said sheet provided with aplurality of sinuous and contiguous corrugations adjacent said sideplates, said corrugations mergin together adjacent the middle of thesheet to form a plurality of fewer corrugations with substantially flata ices.

8. A roof sheet or a railway car, comprising one of a plurality ofmembers to form the roof, consisting of substantially an arch betweenthe opposite side plates of the car, said sheet provided with aplurality of corrugations adjacent said side plates, said corrugationsmerging together adjacent the middle of the sheet to form a plurality offewer, deeper corrugations, the lengths of the center lines of eachcross section of the corrugated portion of the plate being equal to eachother.

9. A roof sheet for a railway car provided with a plurality ofcorrugations adjacent the middle of the plate having their opposite endportions divided to form a plurality of more corrugations adjacent theopposite sides of the plate.

10. A roof sheet for a railway car, comprising one of a plurality ofmembers to form the roof, consisting of substantially an arch betweenthe opposite side plates of the car, said sheet formed with a pluralityof corrugations which have their opposite ends divided so as to providea relatively rigid structure adjacent the center of the roof and arelatively resilient structure adjacent each of said side plates.

ARTHUR E. SMALL.

